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The Digital Continuum: Moria or Wrath? Pt. 2
For all my enjoyment since getting Moria, something begin to bother me while I created a trail of dead bandits, bears, spiders, bats, wolves and tree roots. My time with Warhammer Online has taught me this: The easier I can find quests and complete them, the better my overall experience. After some discussion with Shawn Schuster -- our resident LotRO player -- there were a few new bookmarks nestled in Firefox.
Newest Mines of Moria screens come with extra character
Mines of Moria is getting nearer and nearer to its release day, but Turbine isn't sitting on its laurels and letting fans go without new information or screenshots. Today we bring you a slew of new images that revel in the character aspect of the digitalized Middle-earth's newest locale: Moria, and its many mines. While we're quite fond of the specific shot placed above this post (watch out for the baddies!) there are still several others worth taking a gander at whether or not you plan on even playing the newest expansion content for Lord of the Rings Online. For instance, check out this tantalizing moment caught in the heat of battle. Not only do you get a great sense of Moria's scale, but the lighting is pretty nice, too.We're looking forward to finally seeing these new art and animation assets running on our monitors in just a couple of short weeks.%Gallery-18340%
Lord of the Rings: Conquest debut trailer depicts battles, oliphant violence
Pandemic just released the first trailer for their Star Wars: Battlefront-esque take on Tolkien's beloved fantasy world, Lord of the Rings: Conquest, and despite a few framerate issues, we're as pleased as Miruvor-flavored punch. Though past titles have tried to capture the grand scale of Middle Earth's climactic battles through various methods of interactivity, we've never really felt the exhilaration associated with cutting through swathes of Orcborn adversaries with our trusty Andúril. The familiar Battlefront gameplay formula looks to be just what the doctor ordered -- though PETA might have a few unkind words to say about the Proboscidean homocide apparently featured in the title.
Osgiliath lost
One of the things we've been working on here in the background, here at Massively, is a big writeup of one of the most promising, detailed and downright spectacular role-playing settings in Second Life: The City of Osgiliath (formerly Lond Ernil). This amazing site, spread across six simulators was due to open this week, and we had a delicious feature planned to whet your appetite for role-playing in the Third Age of Middle Earth, in one of the largest cities in the Southern Kingdoms of Gondor. The group staging the setting has poured in over US$10,000 leasing the simulators from the owner during the build-out phase. Unfortunately, the whole site has been destroyed in a single stroke.
WRUP: Book 13 Edition
Given the answers to our weekly WRUP query lately, we've got a pretty good guess what you'll be doing online this weekend: it starts with "book" and ends with "13". Yes, the Lord of the Rings Online patch is out, and odds are that quite a few of you will be heading off into Middle-earth to survey the new content. But don't leave us too far behind -- Massively's got tons of great coverage for you to look over before you head out there.Are you rolling into LotRO? Is WoW more your style this weekend? (It's mine -- I'm still working on getting my Hunter to 70 -- 63 and climbing!). Are you trying to dip into a certain beta test that's becoming more and more open lately? It's Friday, and the weekend's here, so let us know: What aRe yoU Playing?%Gallery-18168%
LotRO loading screen contest ending today
The contest to get your screenshot selected as a loading screen for Lord of the Rings Online will be ending tonight, February 29th at 12am Eastern. So if you've got a screen you just know has a good chance of winning, you'll want to get it submitted right away before it's too late. We're fairly excited to see what kinds of shots end up as loading screens, since we know just how beautiful some of those vistas are in Middle-earth ourselves.While you're at it, feel free to send in your favorite screenshots to our very own One Shots via email to oneshots@massilve.com. You may not get it in a loading screen, but the front page of Massively isn't such a bad place either is it?
Choosing your race in Middle-earth: Dwarf and Hobbit
Here is the second half of our Lord of the Rings Online guide to races, which covers some tips and tricks to help players starting out in Middle-earth and those who've been wandering its lands as well. As we said with the first half of our guide, its purpose isn't to say which race is the best pick for which class --but to just give some insight. So without further delay, lets get to everyone's favorite cranky, stout race -- Dwarves!
One Shots: Flash forward with LotRO
Today we figured we'd break up the old-school shots with a flash forward in time to give a comparison of just how far games have come from the blocky forms of yesteryear. This lovely screenshot comes to us from Massively's own Kyle Horner, who snapped this picture in Lord of the Rings Online. He says that is is taken in a location near the village of Staddle, "just as dawn begins to break in Middle-earth." It is a truly lovely spot to enjoy the quiet beauty of dawn, that's for certain!Do you have some great, interesting, or funny screenshots to show off of your MMO adventures? What are you waiting for! Drop those screens and a quick note about them into an email, and send it off to us at oneshots@massively.com. Your adventures could be the subject of an upcoming One Shots!%Gallery-9798%
Choosing your race in Middle-earth: Man and Elf
In many ways, picking a race for yourself in an MMO is very much a personal choice. However it can help to have some tips and an overall viewpoint on the subject. This guide is here for old players or new players that are unsure of the the finer details of each race in Lord of the Rings Online. The goal isn't to answer the question of which race is best, but rather to give a few tips and some advice on the strong points of the races in Middle-earth. In this first part of our guide to help you choose your race in LotRO, we'll explore the races of both Man and Elf.Obviously if a player has their heart set on being any single race, this guide isn't going to change their mind. Even if you've already made up your mind on a race (or already chosen it), this guide could contain a couple helpful chunks of information.
Looking ahead during Turbine downtime
All Turbine game servers are down today for their once-ever-other-Monday scheduled maintenance. Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online and Asheron's Call players, we hear your pain. What to do until the servers come back up at 2pm EST today? Instead of trolling the official forums, we'd like you to look ahead at what awaits you. For LotRO, Book 12 is now on the test server with its revamps to the Guardian, Burglar and Champion classes as well as the Barbershop and the cosmetic Outfit system and polish pass on the high level solo zone, Angmar. Also, last week's dev chat dropped quite a few hints on post 12 plans.DDO is not to be outdone with its upcoming Module 6 content patch. Our own Mike Schramm got a hands-on tour from the devs. Not only did he get a grand tour of what is to come this week when the Module goes live, but hints of what Turbine is planning throughout the year for this title.And finally, Asheron's Call is looking forward to...um, 9 more years? We'll look into it and get back to you on this one.
Come discover High King's Crossing in Middle-earth
So you say you like rivers, but even more than rivers you love big, tall statues? Well that's good, because Lord of the Rings Online just added High King's Crossing as a new point of interest for any travelers looking to explore. The three massive statues that guard the crossing of Baranduin river are very ancient ruins (as are most ruins in Middle Earth) that were created in honor of the kings of old. Abandoned after the fall of the North-kingdom and the fading of the Dúnedain of the North, it is now being preserved by the Rangers.Feel free to follow the link if you'd like to read through the lore in full, it's worth a minute of your time if you like anything Tolkien. Aside from the nice injection of lore for anyone who enjoys that sort of stuff, the page also has a great integration of the Google maps application. The first thing you might find yourself doing after reading through the lore entry is to wander around the interactive map -- at least if you're anything like us.
Gollum wisshes you a merry Christmases
Lord of the Rings Online and Turbine are nearly done for the holidays, but not before a Christmas-themed wallpaper featuring none other than Gollum ... or is it Sméagol? No prizes for guessing what he wants for Christmas. Not that there was Christmas in Middle-earth, it was more Yule-tide, but ... oh, you know what I mean.Follow the link to download the full image at either 1600 x 1200 or 1024 x 768 resolution, or if you're the kind of LotRO fan to prefer something in-game, check out Dan O'Halloran's excellent Yule-tide quest guide.
LotRO offers (conditional) lower monthly fee for the holidays
Planning on sticking with The Lord of the Rings Online for a while? If so, you can save five bucks a month on your subscription costs thanks to a holiday promotion recently announced by Turbine. LotRO players both new and old will have access to a special billing plan until January 31st. You have to pay for three months in advance, but if you do, you pay only $9.99 per month. Or put another way, it's like getting every third month free. This plan is not very helpful if you're not comfortable committing to your life in Middle-earth for a few months, but if you are, you can start a new account in the plan or change an existing account over to it.We're not sure how the "holiday" part enters into the deal, since the three month subscription is not a a gift you can buy for a friend or family member, but it's nice anyway.
Lord of the Rings cloak design contest winners look a little tame
You may not have heard, but Turbine hosted another cloak design contest for Lord of the Rings Online, and these two beautifully designed drapes are what made it through-- look for these at some future point in the game itself.Don't get me wrong-- these both look good, and I especially like the color scheme and the designs on the one on the left, but I would have liked to see what didn't make it. Something tells me a truck flap cloak would have looked pretty good, and let's not forget the power of cloak-based slogans: I don't see how "My other suit of armor is mithril" couldn't be a best seller in the land of Middle-earth. Maybe these cloak design judges should have thought a little more outside the box.
Stretching the metaphor - the world and the economy
A metaphor is an analogy which is intended to assist in our understanding of something by indicating points of similarity between them. Our virtual worlds are all metaphors to one degree or another. Many artificial constructs are. The problem with metaphors is that they're generally not readily reversible, and it's far too easy to get caught up in them and stretch them far too far.
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Barad Glaran entry added to LotRO Lorebook
Turbine has gone to great lengths to stay true to J.R.R. Tolkien's gigantic library of Middle-earth lore in The Lord of the Rings Online. Regularly updating the official Lorebook is one of the ways they've tried to appeal to gamers who are fans of the literature.Every now and then they write up a new entry to fill us in on the story behind a place or person in the game world. This week, it's the high-level instance of Barad Gúlaran in Angmar. Barad Gúlaran used to be the fortress of the dreaded Witch-king, chief of Sauron's Nazgúl. When a few heroes chased the Witch-king away in the name of the free peoples of Middle-earth, the fortress was left open for plundering ... but it's still not exactly safe.Turbine included a couple of really nice screenshots of the dungeon, as well. And if lore isn't enough for you, you can learn a bit about the gameplay experience of Barad Gúlaran at the unofficial LOTRO-Wiki. That is, if you can tear yourself away from grinding Deeds!
LotRO celebrates the Harvest Festival
There are a lot of Fall seasonal festivals going on in MMOs right now. From WoW's Hallow's End with its flying broomstick mount and Headless Horsemen event to City of Heroes' Costume Contest. Lord of the Rings Online is celebrating the season in its own way with Middle-earth's first annual Harvest Festival. Announced today, but starting on Friday, October 26th and running through November 11th, Tolkien lovers can enjoy a number of unique events.
LotRO Book 11: Defenders of Eriador notes and release date
It's official! Book 11 has a name and an upcoming October 24, 2007 due date in North America and October 25, 2007 in Europe. Best of all, it's free to download -- zilch -- zero -- nada -- did I mention it won't cost a thing? Shiny, new, precious Book 11. We wants it. There's so much stuff crammed into Book 11 if you have been waiting for new content the wait was worthwhile, keep reading for the skinny. Home, sweet home the Middle Earth way. Player-housing is probably the biggest undertaking for a free content update and the developers didn't skimp on the overall implementation. The biggest thing to get right with player-housing is that the elves and dwarves don't live in the same straw huts on a beach somewhere. The developers whole-heartedly agree since there are four different racially-styled homesteads that feature a distinctive Middle Earth architectural style and environment. When it comes to room there's plenty of plots around with 250 neighborhoods to each homestead, so all the hobbits can all live happily ever after and frolic on one giant bed after adventure hour just like in the movie -- I'm sorry, don't hurt me. Don't like your homeland? No problem, you don't have to be a hobbit to live in The Shire. If an elf decides to move in with my dwarven renegade and brings any of that elf culture with em', I'm setting up a neighborhood watch. Kinships won't be left out of the house either and various decorations ranging from paint to taxidermy and even music to help you clutter your new digs and set the mood for that special occasion. Lots and lots of good stuff for the crafters to keep them busy clicking and housing won't be about just the looks, being a home-owner also comes with a few other lucrative benefits. If playing house isn't your thing and you are more into wielding something other than a paint brush Book 11 has you covered with The Rift Nûrz Ghâshu. A new large underground dungeon filled with adventure for up to 12 players. That's not the only high-level content planned either. Also on the endless chapters in Book 11 is a ton of monster play enhancements and a little trip down yonder to the new Goblin-town! For the classes, this time around the Minstrel and Lore-Master see some love with numerous skill updates including a new pet for Lore-masters and Minstrels will be able to train others in their musical ways, which sounds really neat.
Rise of the Witch-King box art revealed
Electronic Arts has released the box art for The Battle for Middle-earth 2: The Rise of the Witch-King, and it looks like the top game publisher hasn't yet bought into the whole Games for Windows promotional strategy. EA continues to use the standard bland, redundant bar label that has adorned their PC packaging since earlier this year -- which most likely means their games don't meet all the branding guidelines set forth by Microsoft (widescreen, parental controls, 360 controller support, etc.). Competing standards basically defeats the purpose of easier product recognition for consumers, and you have to wonder if Microsoft should have just called their marketing initiative what it really is, "Games for Vista".Witch-King is scheduled for a Nov. 28 release, but an Xbox 360 version hasn't been confirmed. Read GameSpot's recent interview with EA producer Amir Rahimi for more details.See also: Middle-earth expands to the Middle Kingdom Steve Gray discusses LOTR: The White Council
LOTR Online gameplay footage
Turbine has released a new five-minute gameplay vid from Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar. You'll get to see humans, dwarves, and elves in a variety of combat scenarios, and watch little hobbitses traverse a faithfully rendered Middle-earth. Based solely on the literary works of Tolkien, the DDO developer has done a nice job creating a look and feel that you will never mistake for the EA line of film-inspired LOTR games (for better or worse). However, the forthcoming MMO could use a little more work in the sound effects department. As of right now, just about every cleave, slash, and arrow pierce sounds like a punch. In fact, if you only heard the audio, you would think you were listening to a Street Fighter game. There is still no release date for Shadows of Angmar, but hopefully Turbine will have enough time to address the audible issues.See also: Tom Bombadil featured in LOTR Online Midway to co-publish Lord of the Rings MMO LOTR Online creature feature
